A chimpanzee that had been locked up her entire life walked outdoors for the first time in nearly 30 years, video shows.
The 28-year-old chimpanzee named Vanilla was recently transferred to a sanctuary in Fort Pierce, Florida. Save the Chimps, a rescue organization, told Storyful Vanilla originally lived in a California facility “inside a chain-link fence cage with no grass and very little enrichment.”
“She had never been outside of a lab cage or the garage-sized enclosure she was transferred to in California,” Save the Chimps explained.
Before she was moved to California, she lived in a small cage at a research lab in New York.
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A 28-year-old chimpanzee named Vanilla was recently transferred to a sanctuary in Fort Pierce, Fla. (Save the Chimps/Dr Andrew Halloran via Storyful)
The heartwarming video shows Vanilla jumping outside to hug another chimp. She then gazes in amazement at the blue sky.
The family of chimps was also seen wandering in its new surroundings, socializing and walking in a field.
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The troop also sat under a structure to get some shade, and some of them groomed each other. Vanilla had been quarantined, re-homed and introduced into a larger family group at the sanctuary.
The family of chimps is also wandering in its new surroundings, socializing and walking in a green field. (Save the Chimps/Dr Andrew Halloran via Storyful)
“I am now fully integrated into the group, and we have a 3-acre island to explore and the freedom to choose where and how to spend our days,” Vanilla’s biography on the Save the Chimps website says. “My first time outside, I was in awe of the open sky, a sight I had never seen in my life as my former homes had cage tops.
“I enjoy exploring the island and relaxing and grooming with my family on the island.”
The troop also sat under a structure to get some shade at the sanctuary, where some of them groomed each other. (Save the Chimps/Dr Andrew Halloran via Storyful)
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“As we celebrate Independence Day, this heartwarming video of Vanilla’s first taste of freedom shows that chimps cherish their independence too,” Save the Chimps CEO Ana Paula Tavares told Fox News Digital in a statement.
